"Specializing in the care of your best friend!"

Change a Pet’s Life Day, started in 2009 to draw attention to the many homeless pets and to encourage adoption, will take place on January 24, 2015. In honor of the day, 1-800-PetMeds® is asking for your help to change the lives of a few adoptable pets!

The 1-800-PetMeds Change a Pet’s Life Contest will help several adoptable pets receive the medical care they need while reducing the financial burden on hard-working rescue groups. This contest will be run through PetMeds Cares, 1-800-PetMeds’ animal rescue donations program, with more than $3,000 in prizes to be awarded to three winning animal rescue groups.

The contest is currently open to US animal shelters and rescue groups. To enter, visit the contest link, fill out the application, and submit a photo of the adoptable pet in need of medical treatment. The application will ask for some background information on the pet: this is your chance to tell the pet’s story and explain why he/she needs surgery or treatment.

Submissions for the contest will be open until January 15, 2015, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Then, voting will open! Although the submission of pets is open to only US animal shelters and rescue groups, anyone 18 and older can vote once a day from January 16 to January 22, 2015, at 12 a.m. ET. The three winners will be announced January 22, 2015, on the PetMeds Cares Facebook page.

The winning pet and both runners-up will be determined by the number of votes.

The winning pet will receive up to $2,000 towards medical treatment and surgery, to be paid to the pet’s veterinarian and animal hospital. The group that entered the second-place pet will have five adoption fees covered by 1-800-PetMeds, to help those pets find their forever homes. The third place pet will receive $250 towards medical treatment and surgery.

1-800-PetMeds is requesting all entries to be completed by shelter or rescue representatives with permission to enter the pet. However, you can still help even if you aren’t part of a rescue group! To help change a pet’s life, tell your favorite shelter or animal rescue group about the contest and urge them to enter one of their pets. Then, vote for the pet to win!